


A Jedi Master's Guide to Dealing with Disturbances in the Force

by Leianora



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:02:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29415297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leianora/pseuds/Leianora
Summary: Someone else is watching Ben's internal struggle, but niether he nor his new guardian are aware of that fact.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 104





	A Jedi Master's Guide to Dealing with Disturbances in the Force

**Author's Note:**

  * For [antigrav_vector and Quarra](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=antigrav_vector+and+Quarra).
  * Inspired by [The 212th Attack Battalion's Guide to Staging Rescues](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25262914) by [antigrav_vector](https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector), [Quarra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quarra/pseuds/Quarra). 



> Dear Antigrav_vector and Quarra, This is supposed to be a sort of homage gift of thanks for the many hours of joy your story has given me. This is the first time I have posted a Star Wars story, and it has been a very long time since I last posted anything at all here, so please forgive me if this turns out a little odd.

Yan Dooku sank deeper into meditation and let his mind wander from topic to topic; floating along in an effort to find sleep. Young Ben was a tangled mess of contradictions and confusion. He had to let go of those impressions before tomorrow so that the evaluation he and Mace and Qui-Gon had been sent to do could be fully observed and his mind could be completely clear to offer an objective view of Ben’s skill. He took a deep breath. The intense spike of fear/anguish/self-doubt/grief slammed into his mind with such suddenness that he nearly gasped out loud. His eyes snapped open and he was slightly shocked to find that his heart was racing; as if he had just had a very intense nightmare.

Struggling to get his reactions back under his control, he sternly reminded himself where he was and who and what was around him. Only when his heart rate had returned to normal did he allow himself the chance to analyze what he had felt. He was stunned to realize that the fear he had felt was not his. Letting his mind go deeper into the feelings, he calmly began questioning whose grief he had felt; and why. Furthermore, he thought to himself with perplexed self-disgust, how had that sudden spike of intense emotion penetrated his shields? He felt as raw and unnerved as a first-year padawan.

Rising from his bed, he continued to think about what he had felt. As he reached the window, it occurred to him that the disturbance he had felt might have come from young Ben. If that was the case, perhaps the Force was prodding at him to do something to aid the youngling.

But what could he do? The boy did not trust anyone to help him. Yan had seen survivers of trauma before and noted that Ben exhibited all the signs. His hyperawearness went far and away beyond what most fully trained Jedi Knights exhibited; even those, like himself, who constantly undertook the most dangerous missions. Ben usually held impenetrable shields over his mind, but no shield could be completely invulnerable all the time. If Ben had had a nightmare, as Yan now suspected, his mind would have been unable to control the mental flailing it projected as he desperately sought to get himself back under control.

Pity smote Yan’s heart as he saw the door to the Training Yard open and Ben slip through. The boy was not even wearing a shirt; and though it was not too cold outside, it was definitely cool enough to make such a fool-hardy mistake uncomfortable. Irritation buzzed through his mind as he realized that the foolish, emotionally traumatized child was probably unarmed.

Feeling the muscles of his jaw flex, he wondered if the Force was compelling him to walk into the yard and give the young idiot a piece of his mind. Even as he thought this, however, the door to the yard opened again and Jaster Mereel stepped inside. A sigh of relief whooshed out of his lungs when Yan saw that the Mand’alor was armed and had seen the boy standing a lonely watch as he struggled with his inner demons.

He watched as the two below his window talked and wished he could hear what was being said. Was Mereel chiding the boy for coming out here in the middle of the night without even dressing properly? Was he scolding his young charge for wandering around alone without a weapon? Somehow Yan didn’t think that was the case. The way he was standing; arms held non-threateningly at his sides and posture relaxed and open, made Yan think that he was trying to offer the boy reassurance.

Something deep inside Yan eased as he watched Mereel gently lay his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Once again, he found himself wondering what was being said. It occurred to him that he should go back to bed. Now that he had discovered the likely origin of the disturbance that had so rudely yanked hin from his meditation, now that said disturbance was being seen to , he should try to get some sleep. After all, he would have to help Mace and Qui-Gon evaluate the boy in the morning; no matter what was happening down below him now. He would need rest to help bolster himself for whatever lay ahead. He did not try to fool himself into thinking that the evaluation would pass uneventfully.

As he debated with himself, he did not move. He watched with growing relief as Mereel held the boy close and appeared to be giving him verbal reassurances. At one point, Yan froze as Mereel’s face tilted back and their eyes nearly met. There was so much rage in the Mand’alor’s expression that Yan was convinced that if anyone had happened upon the two of them in that moment, Mereel would have killed said person. Clearly, whatever young Ben was telling him was having quite an effect on the Mand’alor. Still, Yan could not bring himself to move away from the window.

After a few more moments, Mereel lifted the child into his arms and slowly walked back inside with him. An unfamiliar feeling tightened Yan’s throat as he continued to watch long after the yard had emptied. He realized that he felt a bit jealous that it had not been he to whom the boy had turned in his time of desperate need. He had never felt anything like that before. What was making his emotions run so rampantly out of his control like this? Why was he being so ridiculously sentimental?

He pressed his forehead to the window and closed his eyes. He had acknowledged to himself that he wished he had been the one to adopt the boy before Mereel had found him, but he was completely unprepared for the intensity of his current need to see to Ben’s obvious, aching emotional pain.

Behind him, Mace Windu’s voice startled him.  
“I’m glad someone was there when the boy needed help,” he said softly.

“So am I,” Yan murmured. “So am I.”


End file.
